I picked out this book at the library after reading a favorable review of the author's newest book in the New York Times Book Review. This book was pure chick lit which I don't read much of anymore. It was very average.

I just took it from my shelf even haven't read what it is about. I still can't say whether I like it or not. But it is usefull in that period of time I'm living now. I just wonder if it will help me somehow or not...

Ya I tried….but I couldn’t . I had started this book a 3 months ago, lost interest, and then tried again. I like the premise of this book but felt as if the writing couldn’t meet the standards of the writing that you’d see now a days.

I read this book in less than 24 hours as a fluffy pink antidote to the Grapes of Wrath.

It's a very typical (I'm tempted to use the term "cookie-cutter") chick-lit book about Alison, a 30-something who is dumped horribly, gets back on her feet, and goes through some very minor ordeals while trying to figure out how to make herself happy. She has an array of Sex in the City prototypical friends who give her various bits of advice about her love life.

The main thing that sets it apart is that Alison is a lapsed evangelical Christian, and there was some talk that made me concerned that the "big love" of the title would turn out to be Jesus.

There were things I liked about this book. Overall annoying and irritating and I just kept wanting to yell at this woman to check her privilege for like a second. Dunn has better books. This book had some good moments, and I think if things had been more developed, it would have been a lot better. The stream of consciousness thing was kinda ok but off putting for sure.

The Big Love joins yogurt ads, spray tans, and sitcoms in the long line of terrible things that have resulted from our culture's expectations of, and regard for, women.

Things I hate about The Big Love (the short list):

1.) The main character of The Big Love went to a frickin' Ivy League university and her main obsessions are marriage and why, at age 32, she has only had sex with two people in her life. Are you kidding me?

OK, so, she's from a fundamentalist Christian background and argues that this has stunted her. She also seriously dated a gay man and ended up sleeping with him because she was desperate to have sex. It's understandable that she has issues. But the obsession with her lack of sexual partners is triggered by her boyfriend dumping her at the beginning of the book and she just cannot let it go, even after she has had plenty of sex (only three partners by the end of the book, oh noes, whatever will she do? THERE ARE THIRTY-TWO YEAR OLD VIRGINS ALL AROUND THE WORLD. WHO. CARES. WHO CAAAAAARES. YOU'RE THIRTY-TWO).

2.) She buys into the whole stupid cliche that bisexuals are hormone raging freaks that will sex anything that moves anytime and is almost surprised when "even" her bisexual friend says bestiality is wrong. (??? How offensive.)

3.) She spends like two pages talking about how she's a diagnosed narcissist. Cool story gurl.

4.) She thinks there's nothing more pathetic than going into Reading Terminal Market and shopping by yourself and taking home cheese to then eat by yourself. THAT SOUNDS LIKE AN EXCELLENT DAY. There are enough women who think they're being judged when they do things alone, so way to further reinforce codependency and spoil the fun of a day out by yourself.

(Honestly? In my life I have enjoyed eating at restaurants and seeing movies alone more than I've enjoyed probably 90% of the dates I've been on.)

5.) There's a pregnancy scare and a best friend's confession of undying love, each of which is explored for only about three pages, because this book is crap and it's like Dunn realized nothing was happening aside from her nauseating MC's whinging, so she just phoned in two chick lit tropes to make it seem like things were moving forward.


I don't expect books to be politically correct or to reinforce my feminism. But I am soooo tired of these lazy books that buy into the "common sense" idea of what it is to be woman, dreaming about our weddings and having total fucking breakdowns in the absence of men. They're boring. They're generic. In more vulnerable times, they've actually been unhealthy for my self esteem. I am tired of it! You can't hide your laziness with "Woody Allen" "wit." Get away from me forever, Big Love!

Inevitably when I love a book, I come to Goodreads and it has all one-star ratings at the top of the screen. I've been wishing Goodreads would sort the books by how well I match up with the other reviewers, not by which random review has the most likes. (I think I need to write a blog post about that.) Anyway, this is a case in point: the narrator's internal monologue might drive some readers crazy, but I loved it.

One reviewer complains that a woman who went to an ivy league school is focused on sex and marriage—to me, that's very realistic, and a problem that happens in America, and one of the things that the character struggles with and overcomes during the book. I particularly loved that the ending wasn't super tidy but had that opening-up feeling, like more was to come and it was exciting. And that the answer wasn't "find the right man."

Sarah Dunn könyve teljesen véletlenül került a kezembe, a könyvtárból hazafelé úgy gondoltam kell valami könnyű amit a buszon tudok olvasni. A kötet vékony volt, új, semmit nem tudtam róla, hát levettem a polcról és nekiálltam a buszmegállóban már az olvasásának. Aztán még amikor leszálltam is faltam a betűket. Megint sikerült kifogni egy jópofa női regényt, pedig mostanában ebből nincs sok. Holott elrettenthetett volna, hogy a Blikk Nők kiadványa, de ezt csak utólag vettem észre és bár a 2500forintot drágállnám érte, teljesen jó a kinézete, könnyű (mármint maga a könyv is), korrekt a kivitel, a külcsín és a fordítás is. A sztori pedig olyan kesernyésen mosolyogtató. Talán leginkább Jennifer Weiner Good in bed-jéhez tudnám hasonlítani, ott volt az ebben a stílusban, hogy az első 2 oldal megfogott és a végéig nem engedett. Ráadásul még ami hasonlóság, Sarah Dunn is
újságíró és ez az első regénye, mint Weinernek volt a Good in bed.

Allisont egy vacsoraparty kellős közepén hagyja ott a barátja: lemegy mustárért és nem jön vissza. Ami valljuk be, nem szép dolog. A lány megpróbálja túltenni magát a dolgon, s közben, mint jó neurotikus elemezgeti az ide vezető eseményeket. Allison nem egyszerű eset, hisz vallásos neveltetésének köszönhetően jóval később került oda, hogy párt keressen, mint kortársai, ezért sokkal többet gondolkozik azon, mit kéne tennie, hogy lenne a helyes, van-e valami amit mások könnyebben és természetesebben csinálnak, mint ő és persze állandó lelkiismeretfurdalás gyötri. Hogyan tudja összeegyeztetni azokat az elveket amikben felnőtt mostani életének alakulásával. Közben meg Dunn stílusa teljesen magával ragadó és a hősnője, meg a barátai, ismerősei akik megfordulnak körülötte annyira hétköznapiak, hogy folyamatosan éreztem, ez a könyv akár rólam is szólhatna.

Eredetileg: http://olvasonaplo.net/olvasonaplo/2008/02/12/sarah_dunn_a_nagy_szerelem/

I felt like I could relate to the main character because of my own Christian upbringing and how I also have changed my views and morals over the years. It was a pretty intriguing book, and I enjoyed reading it.